So this is the last of my lectures on Shakespeare for this term.

And I'm going to talk about The Merchant of Venice, a comedy which dates from around 1596 to 7,

the same sort of time as Henry IV,

and fitting sort of chronologically, I between Romeo and Juliet midsum and

night's dream which is slightly earlier and Mary Wives of Windsor the Henry

the fourth plays much do about nothing which is slightly later it's a play first

published in quarto form in 1600 and then again in the folio in 1623.

So the title character of the Merchant of Venice is Antonio, a melancholic figure who undertakes to borrow money on behalf of his friend Basarnio, who wants the money

to woo a wealthy woman, Portia.

Antonio agrees with Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, that he will borrow 3,000 ducats,

and that the forfeit, if the money is not repaid, will be a pound of his flesh.

Pisaniot goes to Belmont to participate in a choosing or wooing ritual which has been set up by

Portia's dead father. Potential suitors must choose between a gold, silver and lead

casket in order to win the hand of Portia. We see the princes of Morocco and Aragon choose

gold and silver wrongly. Bessano chooses lead and thus winsia for his bride. News comes almost immediately that

Antonio has defaulted on his loan. Bosano hastens back to Venice. Portia and her gentlewoman

Narissa go to the court disguised as a lawyer and his clerk. They managed to turn the tables on Shylock,

who is forced to allow the bond to lapse, to convert to Christianity, and to give his money to his

daughter, Jessica, who has meanwhile eloped with Lorenzo, a friend of Basanoo, back in Belmont, the identity of the lawyer is revealed.

Now, there are lots of questions that I think Merchant de Venice raises for us,

and in some ways I've chosen a slightly off-center one.

I decided to focus the lecture around the question, why does Basagnos choose the lead

...